PARIS - A French maritime patrol aircraft was the object of an “intimidation attempt” this week by the Russian military over the Baltic Sea, France said on Friday, calling the incident “unacceptable”.
The French Navy’s Atlantique-2 plane was carrying out a surveillance flight when it became the victim of an “attempted jamming” and was also tracked by the radar of a S-400 surface-to-air missile system, Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on X.
The aircraft was operating as part of NATO’s operation Baltic Sentry in response to suspected Russian damage to submarine power and telecoms cables.
“This aggressive Russian action is unacceptable,” Lecornu said, adding that the incident happened overnight Wednesday to Thursday.
“Our armed forces will continue to act to defend freedom of navigation in international air and maritime spaces.”
Speaking at a press briefing in Brussels on Thursday, US Gen Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, said such incidents were “widespread” and “quite serious”.
They have gone “far beyond the borders of Europe as well”, Cavoli added.